After a life-shattering accident, a new dedication to shooting straight

On March 8, 2011, shortly before his life took an unexpected turn, Mississippi novelist Greg Iles was stopped at an intersection, lost in creative thought as he debated what to do with his new thriller about unsolved civil rights murders—a subject that was too big for one book, or maybe even two. Most writers would consider that a great problem to have. But for Iles, being forced to choose between art and commerce always sends him into a desultory funk. In such moments, he readily admits, he should not be driving.

Finding hope in life's dark side

There are three things you may not know about free-range thriller writer Dean Koontz, who has sold hundreds of millions of books during his rise to the publishing stratosphere:1. His new thriller, Innocence, a paean to nonviolence, was inspired by a dream about a long-dead best-selling author;2. His abusive alcoholic father tried to cut short...

The secret life of Mrs. Moore

How well do you know your spouse? Or your best friends? Even if the thought never occurred to you, it will by the time you’re halfway through The Expats, Chris Pavone’s clever debut spy novel that’s suspenseful enough for a man yet introspective enough for a woman.Here’s the setup: Kate Moore has been working undercover...

Suspense with California style

Don Winslow knows a thing or two about riding waves.Not the lazy SoCal curls that buoy San Diego's surfing private eye Boone Daniels and the colorful supporting cast in The Dawn Patrol and its new sequel, The Gentlemen's Hour, but the swells of incipient fame that have inexplicably failed to yield Oprah-level notoriety for one of...

Crime fiction's forensic pioneer

The prolific, perennially best-selling Patricia Cornwell first kicked her way into publishing 20 years ago with Postmortem, a risky little mystery that introduced the world to Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner whose grim science had heretofore been relegated to footnote status.Seven publishers turned it down before Scribner finally...

Two worlds

At the age of 62, Henning Mankell recently bought a pair of ice skates for the first time since he was a young boy growing up in northern Sweden. The occasion: a winter blizzard that virtually isolated his northern residence. The temporary loss of telephone service might concern others, but for Mankell, it was bliss to be suddenly transported...

Cold case

Leo Demidov's personal hell has truly been paved with the best of intentions. The Soviet war hero and rising star within Stalin's State Security force has ordered the execution of thousands of his countrymen, or worse, dispatched them to the infamous gulags, all in service to the greater good of communism. But when he obediently...

Lady killer

There is absolutely nothing about Chelsea Cain to remotely suggest that she had the year's scariest novel inside her. The daughter of hippies who spent her formative years in an Iowa commune, Cain's published work to date consists of an arch Nancy Drew parody (Confessions of a Teen Sleuth), a hippie-child anthology (Wild Child: Girlhoods in the...

Dateline: Berlin

Alan Furst admits he's "not entirely clear" on how he came to be the pre-eminent American writer of World War II spy novels. Beginning with Night Soldiers in 1988, the former journalist has written nine critically acclaimed espionage novels, including his latest, The Foreign Correspondent.As the grandson of Jewish immigrants growing...

Fortunate son

That the name Jesse Kellerman should suddenly appear on mystery bookshelves seems unsurprising if not preordained. As the sole son and eldest of four children of best-selling novelists Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, 27-year-old Jesse has the pedigree, the academic credentials (B.S. from Harvard, M.F.A. from Brandeis) and the winning combination...